History of IAAP

First chapter of what soon became the National Secretaries Association was founded in Topeka, Kansas. Followed quickly by chapters in Missouri, Oklahoma, Iowa, Nebraska, and Minnesota.

1946

Two hundred members attend the first nationwide
convention in Kansas City, Missouri. Delegates, drawn from 115 chapters, approve the development of the Certified Professional Secretary program.

1950

A merger with Secretaries International brings the NSA to 467 new members. A new home building project is also started for retired secretaries.

1951

Of the 281 candidates who tested, 62 of them pass a six-part examination and become the first recipients of the CPS rating.

1952

U.S. Department of Commerce joins the NSA
in sponsoring the first National Secretaries Week, now known as the (Administrative Professionals Week) to recognize, "the secretary, upon whose skills, loyalty, and efficiency the functions of which business and government depend."

1954

NSA goes international, with the first chapter formed outside the continental United States in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

1958

Creation of the Retirement Centers Trust.

1960

NSA establishes the Future Secretaries Association; a network of chapters in high schools.

1964

Asociacion de Secretarias Ejectivas de Panama becomes the first foreign secretarial association to affiliate with the NSA.

1966

With $100 in seed money, the Research and Educational
Foundation was created to fund projects that will, "benefit the secretarial profession, as well as,the fields of business and education."

1967

Convention delegates vote to open membership to men; first man joins six weeks later.

1971

Language barriers fall as NSA offers the CPS examination in French to Canada and in Spanish to Puerto Rico.

1972

Twenty-year dream culminates with the dedication of Vista
Grande; an 11-acre retirement complex near Albuquerque, New Mexico.

1981

Name changed to Professional Secretaries International.

1987

CPS program is restructured; requiring recipients to re-certify their credentials every five years.

1989

PSI purchases land in Kansas City for potential
headquarters. Bylaws and Standing Rules amended to provide full
membership status to members outside North America and U.S. territories; giving voting rights to International Associations.

1992

PSI celebrates 50th Anniversary. First International Secretarial Summit held in New York City.

1995

PSI purchases the building and site of our present world HQ offices in Kansas City, Missouri. The building dedication
ceremony was held April 8. Convention delegates vote to approve a bylaws
amendment that added, "The Association for Office Professionals"; as a
tag line to the name of the association.

1998

PSI changes its name to the International Association of Administrative Professionals.

2000

IAAP changes name of Professional Secretaries Week to Administrative Professionals Week.